Memorandum of Understanding. between. New York State Division of Minority and Women Business Development. and. and. and

Transcription

1 Memorandum of Understanding between New York State Division of Minority and Women Business Development and The Surety & Fidelity Association of America and New York State Insurance Department and The Jamaica Business Resource Center "Whereas The New York State Division of Minority and Women Business Development, the chief economic development program for New York State Minority and Women-owned businesses (hereinafter referred to as the "Division") is committed to promoting the rapid growth and development of small, minority and women-owned businesses in the State of New York to facilitate greater participation by these businesses in contracting opportunities with and in the State of New York, including those from federal, state, local government and commercial organizations, and those involved in the rebuilding of lower Manhattan; and The Division's goal is to build the capacity of minority and women-owned enterprises (MWBEs) and provide assistance to qualified New York-based MWBEs in effectively competing for bids, contracts, and procurement

2 opportunities with and in the State of New York including those from federal, state, local government and commercial organizations, and those involved in the rebuilding of lower Manhattan; and The Division acknowledges the need for program efforts to mcrease awareness of and access to bonding for these businesses; and Whereas The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (hereinafter referred to as the "SF AA") is a licensed rating or advisory organization in all states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and has been designated by state insurance departments as a statistical agent for the reporting of fidelity and surety experience; and The SF AA plays an active role in diversity nationwide by assisting in educating emerging contractors on how to become bondable or increase their bonding capacity; and The SF AA provides technical assistance and program resources to state and local governments in the areas of contractor development and bonding support; and The SF AA is committed to working with the Division to promote the growth and development of minority and women-owned businesses throughout the State of New York through greater awareness of and access to bonding; and Whereas The New York State Insurance Department (hereinafter referred to as the "Department") is responsible for supervising and regulating all insurance business in New York State, and as part of its mission seeks to foster growth of the insurance industry in the State, including the ready availability and afiordability of surety bonding; Therefore, be it resolved that The Division and the SF AA, in consultation with the Department, jointly will develop and support programs and activities which will provide minority and women-owned businesses throughout the State of New York 2

3 with the skills and access to bonding and financing necessary to enhance their efforts at significant participation in the contracting opportunities with and in the State of New York, including those from federal, state, local government and commercial organizations, and those involved in the rebuilding of lower Manhattan; and The program hereby established is the New York State Division of Minority and Women Business Development Bonding Initiative, hereinafter called the "Bonding Initiative", a partnership of the Division and the SF AA; and The objective of the Bonding Initiative is to assist minority, and/or womenowned businesses specializing in construction and construction-related services to qualify for and access bonding or increase their bonding limits through education and direct assistance in the bonding process by working directly with the surety industry and the U.S. Small Business Administration's Bond Guarantee Program, as well as to pursue other approaches to bonding access such as state-sponsored bond guarantee programs; and The initial activity under the Bonding Initiative will be a "pilot" contractor development program to be launched on or about February 21, 2008, undertaken with the assistance of The Jamaica Business Resource Center (a grantee of the U.S. Department of CommercelMinority Business Development Agency and hereinafter referred to as "JBRC"), and jointly utilizing the educational workshops and bond readiness components of SFAA's Model Contractor Development Program and the existing construction and business management workshops of JBRC. Contractors selected to participate in this "pilot" program must be certified as a minority or woman-owned business with the State of New York and must meet predefined criteria established by the Division, as well as other prequalification criteria. Under this "pilot", the Division and JBRC will: conduct on-going outreach to inform the minority, and women contractor community of the Bonding Initiative; identify and recruit a minimum of 30 companies in the "Downstate" area (consisting of the 5 boroughs of New York City, and Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties) that can benefit from participating in the Initiative, as well as conduct contractor recruitment in the other areas of New York State (including Buffalo, 3

4 Albany, Syracuse and Rochester in which the Initiative will be implemented (The goal in each of these primarily "Upstate" areas is to recruit between 10 and 15 contractors for the initial round of program participation with subsequent rounds to follow). Also as part of this recruitment effort the Division and JBRC will work with members of Governor Spitzer's MWBE Executive Leadership Council such as the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to identify contractors who run solid construction businesses, but have not had bonds in the past; network MWBE contractors with the surety, banking, and financial industries through sponsoring meetings and conferences in a variety of settings; organize and arrange a series of workshops on various aspects of contractor development, based on the SF AA/MCDP and JBRC educational workshops; offer technical assistance in areas such as management and operational systems, finance and accounting systems, business plan development, access to capital, and access to procurement; and provide referrals to legal and accounting professionals for additional assistance to contractors who may need assistance beyond education and training, prior to applying for bonding; and report on a quarterly basis to the Department on the number, identity and geographic location of contractors enrolled in the program, the number, identity and geographic location of contractors who have completed the program, and the number, identity and geographic location of contractors who have been offered bonding after completing the program The SF AA and JBRC will: identify appropriate professionals from the surety, construction, legal and financial sectors who shall make presentations at each of the Bonding Initiative workshops; 4

5 coordinate, facilitate, and/or provide access to resources of the SF AA and JBRC, which will assist the ESDC in fully implementing all aspects of the Bonding Initiative; establish peer reviews whereby contractors are teamed up with members of the surety industry who would review their bondability. The SF AA and JBRC will identify and develop a prescriptive plan to address any potential denial factors apparent from each company's profile and bonding package reviewed; monitor the implementation of each contractor's development strategy as issues ofbondability are addressed; and Once the "pilot" program is underway, the SF AA and the JBRC, coordinated by the Division, will employ the SF AAlMCDP and JBRC business development models and bond readiness activities to facilitate state-wide implementation of the Bonding Initiative in the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse areas sequentially each week following the February 21 launch in accordance with the contractor numbers stated above; The goal of this Program is to achieve an optimal level of bond ability for each participating contractor and the surety industry is committed to see every contractor that successfully completes the Program by following the prescriptive plan designed for that contractor obtain a bond, bond line or increase his or her bonding limit; and The SF AA will work with its member surety companies to maximize access to bonding for all participants in this "pilot" and state-wide efforts under the Initiative. And, in addition, Since many of the CEOs of the surety industry have committed to aggressively service MWBEs in New York State in their regular course of business in addition to participating in the Program, and because the Department is committed to ensuring the continued availability and affordability of surety bonding for qualified small business owners, the number of contractors to benefit is not limited to the number that participate in the formal pilot and state-wide efforts. The Division, the SF AA and the JBRC continually will coordinate each aspect of program implementation to ensure that the Bonding Initiative is 5

6 managed efficiently, including such operational matters as conducting intake and assessment for bonding, assembling company profiles and bonding packages, and providing monthly, quarterly or other periodic reports that may be necessary for program success; and An Advisory Oversight Committee comprised of four individuals and made up of representatives of the Division and the Department will be established to monitor the progress and success of the program on a quarterly basis and ensure that the Department receives detailed progress reports on a regular basis. Measures of success will include the number of contractors who have completed the program, the number of contractors who have been offered bonding and the number of those contractors who actually have received bonding. Furthermore, The SFAA will continue to work with the u.s. Small Business Administration (SBA) to have its Surety Bond Guarantee Program aggressively re-enter the New York market as part of its agreed-upon participation in this Bonding Initiative; and The Division will incorporate its new Capital Access Program into this Initiative thus allowing access to that capital to those participating contractors who need additional capital in their business to quality for surety bonds. It is mutually agreed between the Division, the SF AA and the Department, that each party shall be responsible for its own expenses arising out of and in relation to the terms and conditions of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU may be amended at any time by the parties in writing, or any party may terminate its participation in the MOU upon 90 days of posting of notice to the other parties by regular mail and certified mail return receipt requested, however, all parties agree that such termination would be for good cause only. Any communication pertaining to this MOU shall be directed to Mr. Michael Jones Bey, Executive Director, Division of Minority & Women's Business Development, Empire State Development Corporation, 633 Third 6

7 Avenue~ 33 rd Floor~ New York, NY 10017; to Mr. Samuel A. Carradine, Jr., Director of Development and Diversity, The Surety & Fidelity Association of America, 1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036; to Mr. Robert H. Easton, Deputy Superintendent & General Counsel, New York State Insurance Department, 25 Beaver Street, New York, NY 10004; and to Mr. Timothy H. Marshall, President & CEO, Jamaica Business Resource Center, th Street, Jamaica, NY This revised MOD shall be effective February...li, 2008, and remain in force until termination by the parties to this MOD. This document is a memorandum of understanding only. It is only a declaration of intent. The agreement does not create any actionable rights or obligations that may be asserted by either party. Any portion of this agreement that conflicts with federal, state or local law shall be null and void. Signed this 15th day of February, 2008 The Honorable David Paterson Lieutenant Governor The State of New York Mr. Michael Jones-Bey Executive Director, MWBE Division Empire State Development Corporation Mr.GafYTD Immediate Past Chair The Surety & Fidelity Association of America 7

8 Mr. Eric R. Dinallo Superintendent New York State Insurance Department Mr. Heyward Davenport Regional Director Minority Business Development Agency U.S. Department of Commerce Rev. Edwin Reed Chairman JBRC Board of Directors 8